Stop. >> Stop. >> Stop. >> Stop. >> Okay. Stop reaching. >> You're about to break my [ __ ] I'm not reaching. >> Stop. Stop. Let go your hand. >> Let go of your hand. >> Not break. >> I let go of your hand. >> Oh no. >> Stop. Dude, I'm not doing nothing. Please stop. PLEASE FREAKING STOP. PLEASE STOP. OW. >> STOP. [screaming] STOP. STOP. >> STOP. >> JUST LET GO. >> GIVE US help me. >> Oh, I am. >> I'm not doing nothing. >> Just stop. >> Bust your hands. I've said it a 100 times. >> I do my arm. [ __ ] Oh my god. Oh my god. Ow. OW. [screaming] OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. [groaning] OKAY. [screaming] >> DUDE, I can't breathe. I can't breathe. On March 18th, 2023, a traffic stop for an improper right turn escalated into a use of force incident involving a teenage passenger, a concealed firearm, and serious unresolved legal questions. The stop itself was legal under Terry v. Ohio 392 US1, 1968. An observed moving violation gives officers all the reasonable articulable suspicion they need to initiate a stop. That is settled law. >> Hello. How you doing today? I'm officer Murphy probably officer warning. The reason we pulled you over is when you guys turned out made an improper right. >> Improper right. >> Yep. >> An improper right is when you basically make a right hand turn and you >> I know exactly what you're saying. >> I'm just I'd probably say you were driving earlier though. So, >> no, I wasn't driving earlier. >> I was maybe your registration insurance. >> You guys are not allowed to watch me though. >> Okay. >> That you guys were pulling over. You guys were just watching me that we were at his cousin's house and now you're pulling me over. >> Step out of the car for me. >> For what? >> We both smell marijuana. >> Um, no sir. I'm going to be calling my mother. I'm underage. So, thank you. >> Step out of the car. >> Step out. >> Yeah. Yeah, the car just let me smell weed and you're trying to pull me out and do like >> Okay, come on. >> Step out. >> You don't have You're not You don't have the right, >> ma'am. Step out of the car. I do have the right because you're watching me over there. Don't touch me. >> I'm about to grab you. Step out of the car. Don't you dare touch. Step out. >> Don't you dare touch me. Stop the stop. >> Stop, >> bro. Yeah, they just did this literally because we came all we did was come out here neighborhood and they just slammed her on the ground. >> What's your badge number? >> Hey, get back. >> WHAT'S YOUR BADGE NUMBER? >> GET BACK. YOU WANT TO GO TO JAIL, TOO? GET ON THE SIDEWALK. Get up. >> Keep walking. >> Hey, don't walk up that car. >> Over here for me, man. >> Don't do I have no reason to touch your hands on me. I'm putting my hands on >> Okay. I have no reason. Stop walking AWAY UP THEN BACK UP. WALK OVER THERE. >> I'M NOT WALKING NOWHERE. I'M STANDING ON THE SIDEWALK LIKE YOU JUST TOLD ME. You said GO ON THE SIDEWALK. I'M ON THE SIDEWALK. >> WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME TO DO DIFFERENT STUFF? YOU DUMB. >> YOU'RE A ROOKIE. You said come on the sidewalk. I'M ON THE SIDEWALK. I'M NOT GOING NOWHERE. I'M NOT GOING NOWHERE. I'M STAYING ON the sidewalk. >> I'm staying on the sidewalk. >> Stop walking. >> I'm not going nowhere. I'm staying ON THE NO. NO. >> NO. >> MOM. MOM. MOM. MOM. NO. >> I'm not moving. I'm staying on the sidewalk. I'm not doing nothing. I'M NOT DOING >> NOTHING. I'm not doing anything. I'm not doing Okay, I will. I won't stop. Bro wasn't doing nothing. I'm not doing nothing. I'm not doing anything. [screaming] >> No, dude. GIVE ME YOUR HAND. >> GIVE US YOUR HAND. STOP. >> STOP. >> STOP. >> STOP. >> OKAY. Stop reaching. >> You're about to break my [ __ ] I'm not reaching. >> Stop. Stop. Let go. >> Let go of your hand. Not breathe. I >> Let go of your hand. >> Oh no. Stop, dude. I'm not doing nothing. Please stop. Please freaking stop. PLEASE STOP. [screaming] >> STOP. STOP. STOP. >> STOP. >> JUST LET GO. >> GIVE A HELP ME. >> OH, I am. >> I'm not doing nothing. >> Just stop. your hand. >> You bust your hands. I've said it 100 times. >> Use this. >> I dude my arm. What the Oh my god. Oh my god. Ow. Ow. [screaming] OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. OKAY. A >> dude. >> I can't breathe. I can't breathe. >> Okay, I can't >> get out. WATER. WATER. WATER. WATER. >> STOP. >> WATER. >> Sit up. Sit up. Bring your feet. >> Help me. Ow. >> Can I have water, please? >> Yeah. >> Mr. Murphy, please. Murphy. There's nothing in my pockets. I swear to God. OW. MY ARM. MY ARM. MY ARM. OW. >> MISTER. OW. OW. [screaming] OW. STOP. MOVE. YOUR ARM. DUDE. MY ARM. DUDE. MY ELBOW. Move your arm from like that, please. >> Please move your Just move your arm. Move your arm from under my elbow. >> Dude, why does it feel like that? >> I think my arm's broken. I honestly think my arm's broken. >> He's got I think he's got zero in HIS PANTS. DON'T GRAB IT. >> DO not stop. Back up. Back up. I'VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH. NOW HE'S GOING TO STAB ME. >> HEY, I JUST PULLED THIS OUT OF his Okay. >> What? >> Yes. So, get back. >> MO, I DO NOT HAVE AN ARMY. [laughter] >> NO. >> I cannot breathe. >> Okay. STEP BACK. >> STEP BACK. >> I AM OVER HERE, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO HANDLE HIM like that. >> You do not. That's my thing. Mom, >> can you just put me on my book? >> Mom, get there now. >> Mom, I did nothing. >> Ow. >> Savior, calm down. >> Take my wallet. >> No. Stay back. >> Can you give me back? >> No. No. Pull up his clothes. I don't have nothing in my stuff. >> Pull up his clothes, please. >> They don't get picked up. Like, I need my shoes. >> I just want my clothes. >> The first contested issue is the order to exit the vehicle in Maryland v. Wilson 519 US 408 1997. The Supreme Court held that officers may order passengers, not just drivers, out of any lawfully stopped vehicle without additional justification. That order was legally valid. Refusing a lawful exit order does not make the order unlawful. In most states, non-compliance during a traffic stop constitutes obstruction and it authorizes officers to use reasonable force to compel compliance under the fourth amendment. That is where this situation escalated. The use of force standard is Graham v. Connor 490 US 386 1989. Three factors severity of the offense. whether the subject posed an immediate threat and whether there was active resistance. The underlying offense here was a traffic infraction and the passenger had committed no crime at the time force was applied. That matters when the severity of the crime is low and there is no apparent weapon or immediate threat. The Graham standard demands restraint. Only active resistance justifies force and the footage must actually support that finding. Courts do not take an officer's word for it. They review the recording. When the subject stated she could not breathe and believed her arm was broken, a separate legal obligation attached immediately. Under the 14th Amendment due process clause, officers have a constitutional duty to provide medical care for serious needs of people in their custody. That duty requires a response, not a diagnosis. A firearm was later recovered from the subject's underwear, unholstered and unlicensed. This does not retroactively justify the force applied before the search. Graham is assessed at the moment force occurs based on what the officer knew at that moment. What a subsequent search reveals is legally irrelevant to that analysis. The firearm charge stands on its own. Unlicensed concealed carry is a felony level offense in most US states. Add in the subject's claimed age of 15 and juvenile statutes apply. Under Enry Galt 387US1, 1967, minors in custody carry specific procedural protections, including the right to parental notification before any questioning. >> Take your key out. I did not resist. They slam me on the ground for GOING ON THE SIDEWALK. MOM, THEY SAID GO ON THE SIDEWALK. I WENT IN THE SIDEWALK AND THEY SLAM ME. MOM, they told ME GO ON THE SIDEWALK. I went on the SIDEWALK AND THEY SLAM ME ON THE MOM. This dude was punching me in my head. He punched in my back three times. He punched me in my neck. >> Dude, take a breath. Take a breath. It's fine. Just calm down. >> Take a breath. Take a breath, man. Take a breath. Put your hand up. offic at the end of the day if he did that's my son has been stabbed before. >> Okay. >> Like he's he's been through a lot already. >> Okay. Do you have an ID on your mail? >> Yes, I do. >> So, what about all happened? >> Hold on. We'll get to that in just a second. >> Because he was screaming. >> What? What happened? >> How old is your son? >> He just heard 18. >> Okay. And then we have under no obligation to tell you anything. Okay. Just so you know. Okay. So, what I'm going to tell what I'm going to as a supervisor, what I'm going to tell you as a parent. >> Okay. As a supervisor. >> And I know you're a parent. >> Absolutely. Yes, ma'am. But what I'm going to tell you, these officers conducted a traffic stop. >> Okay. Your son resisted. >> When I showed up, he was on the ground handcuffed. I am the officer that pulled this out of your son's underwear. Okay. That's not a common place. I'm sure he's not licensed to carry this. So that's that's a jail sentence right there. >> It's not it's not a safe. You don't have to be like >> Yes, you do. To conceal it, you do, ma'am. Yes, absolutely. And that's not it's not holstered. It I don't carry my firearm in my underwear. Okay. Clinch between my butt cheeks. That's exactly where it was. And that's what my report's going to say. >> Excuse me. Can you please loosen these cuffs a little bit? >> I can't wait until they come over here because I don't know what happened before I got here. Can you tell one of them to come and loosen these up a little bit? >> I'm not moving your cups right now. Okay, >> you're allowed to do that. >> Stop moving your hands. >> I They moved it whenever they already cuped me and slammed me about two three times. >> I don't know what happened. I wasn't here. >> So, you're not allowed to LOOSEN THESE CUPS. MOM, >> I'M NOT GOING TO YOU WERE FIGHTING WITH OFFICERS. >> I WAS NOT FIGHTING WITH OFFICERS. >> WELL, give me a minute. Let me figure it out. Like dude, all like, bro, you can loosen the cup. Like, bro, loosen the [screaming] cup. >> The door or whatever you're doing to the door, you're going to get another charge, >> bro. Can you please just loosen the cuffs a little bit? That's all I'm asking. Please. >> Like, what medicine? >> Z. No, he didn't. >> We'll talk. >> Okay. So, but you have to calm down and cavier. Do you have air in there now? Can Can you hear your mother? >> Can you hear her? >> She's talking to you. >> Can you come? >> Stop yelling, >> Xavier. >> You didn't even take your medicine. >> Listen, I will meet you. I'm going to go I'm going to call the lawyer. I'm going to go post your bond and all that once they put everything in. Damn. Jesus. These cop No one has kids. No one has kids obviously. This is crazy. >> Wait, excuse me. Can you please loosen these cuffs a little bit? >> Uh, as soon as we get to the uh >> No. Like, >> dude, you're not you're not giving me a reason, bro. You're kicking my >> No, I didn't. I'm literally said I put my feet on your thing. That's all I did. I'm didn't I'm not kicking. I probably >> be there in about 2 minutes and we'll get those cops off you. All right. >> All right. >> Yeah. And I was literally doing everything they said. They said go on the sidewalk. I went on the sidewalk. They start like walking up on me. I said I'm on the phone. Can you please not grab me and then he kept walking up on me and I said I listened. I said I listened to everything you said. You told me to back away from you guys. I backed away and then told me to go on the sidewalk. Now I'm on the sidewalk. But then I was saying it like in a high tone. That's probably what made him mad. But I don't see what like you can't take like just for me yelling you're supposed to like deescalate. Tell me calm down. Instead of that in instead of telling me to calm down. He literally like tackled me. I listen I was listening I was on the phone with my mom. I wasn't even interfering with the traffic stop. I swear I was literally on the phone with my mom telling her that we just got pulled over. Not even I wasn't going to do I was not going to do anything. I was listen I listened to everything they said. Everything they said. And still listening to everything they said. He still ran up on me, grabbed me by my arm, twisted it behind my back. And as he's doing that, one of them's like elbowing me right in my neck. The other one punched me in the back three times while the other one's elbows inside of my neck. >> Like I wasn't there, brother. >> Yeah. Wait, is Do they have the body cam footage though, right? >> Oh, yeah. Dude, I I my dude. Oh my gosh. >> Now for the grades. Officer Murphy receives a C. The stop and the exit order were legally sound, but physical force without meaningful deescalation against a passenger claiming to be a minor, while documented medical complaints went unressed on camera falls short of current constitutional and professional standards. The subject receives a C++. Refusing a lawful order and physically resisting officers is not legally defensible regardless of the circumstances. Carrying an unlicensed firearm is a serious separate crime. The one credit the post arrest account was calm, detailed, and internally consistent, which is exactly the right approach when you believe excessive force was used against you. The supervising sergeant receives a B minus. He communicated clearly with the parent and correctly framed the weapons charge. However, he defaulted to adult procedures without resolving the age ambiguity and he did not acknowledge the medical complaints on camera. Both failures carry civil liability exposure under section 1983 of title 42 of the US code. Before we close out, five lessons from this encounter that apply to everyone. whether you are the one being stopped or the one doing the stopping. These are not opinions. They come directly from the case law this footage puts into question. First, passengers have no exemption from police exit orders. Marilyn v. Wilson, 1997 is clear. Understanding this one ruling could prevent a misunderstanding from becoming a physical confrontation. Knowing the law in advance is the lowest cost form of protection available. Second, if you believe a command is unlawful, comply first, then challenge it in court. The Supreme Court addressed this framework in NV. Bartlett 587US2 86 2019. Rights are vindicated in courtrooms, not on sidewalks. Third, force must be proportionate at the moment it is applied. Graham v. Connor is not a technicality. It is the constitutional ceiling on what officers are permitted to do. Departments that train rigorously in deescalation reduce both civilian harm and their own civil liability. Fourth, medical complaints in custody are not optional to acknowledge. Section 1983 of title 42 of the US code gives individuals a direct legal path to sue state actors for civil rights violations. Failure to provide medical care is one of the most litigated grounds under that statute. Fifth, if you are a minor and you are arrested, state your age clearly and on the record. Most states prohibit questioning a juvenile without a parent or attorney present. Invoking this right calmly and early is the most protective thing a young person can do in a custodial situation. At the time of this analysis, no confirmed outcome exists for any criminal charges, civil filings, or internal review connected to this incident. The law applied here is not in question. What remains open is whether the facts on the footage are enough to move the needle in either direction once this goes before a court. If you found this breakdown useful, leave your thoughts in the comments. If there is an interaction or a legal issue you want us to break down next, tell us.